New boundary study for Churchill, Clarksburg, Damascus, Gaithersburg, RM, Northwest, Poolesville, QO, SV, WM, Wootton

[Anonymous]

I am hoping they opt to achieve SES diversity in Wootton by attracting lower income residents with new development rather than introducing split articulation on any of the elementary schools. Wootton is due for renovation which could be used to address capacity issues that might pop up.

https://mocoshow.com/2023/12/26/city-of-rockville-briefed-on-proposal-to-raze-rockshire-shopping-center-for-redevelopment-that-would-include-60-new-homes/

https://woottoncommonsense.com/16282/uncategorized/school-plans-for-site-upgrade/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these schools lack real diversity and need some busing.

Busing is a band-aid. I'd rather see MCPS invest in well thought-out programs at specific schools that are attractive and open to students in upcounty/midcounty.

You notice how the two HS magnet programs are in opposite corners of the county that's inconvenient for the majority of the county? There was another thread a few months back about Crown. The capacity at Crown wasn't even necessary if current boundaries were shifted?

I want to know how many overpaid MCPS Central Office / BOE staff at Hungerford send their kids to College Gardens ES or live in Kings Farm? Someone on the thread was pushing hard to insist that those areas would 100% certain be part of Crown.

That’s funny because the word on the street is that the rest of King Farm will be shifted from RM to Gaithersburg, not exactly a “win”.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these schools lack real diversity and need some busing.

McKnight and the Board just lost Title I money for four schools. That means less resources.

And you want to install a skin color meter on the front door of the schools?

Forget it.

That almost happened with Twinbrook ES when they were looking at redrawing the boundaries when Rustin opened.

One of the options was going to make TBES and RPES 40% FARMs each, which would cause TBES to lose Title 1 status, and the two buses literally bypassing each other on the way to their respective schools. Thankfully, it was shot down, but I hear that there were a couple of BOE members who wanted this option for the optics; it certainly wasn't for the kids or their families.

No, it did not "almost" happen.

2 wanted it, so it could've almost happened. Why did MCPS even put that option forward if they didn't think it was feasible? Or are you saying that MCPS does stuff like this just to mess with people's heads?

"It could've almost happened."

yes, it could've. Otherwise, they would not have put that option forward. Or again, are you saying that they just do that to mess with people's heads?

I could've almost been a contender.

Still not answering the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these schools lack real diversity and need some busing.

Busing is a band-aid. I'd rather see MCPS invest in well thought-out programs at specific schools that are attractive and open to students in upcounty/midcounty.

You notice how the two HS magnet programs are in opposite corners of the county that's inconvenient for the majority of the county? There was another thread a few months back about Crown. The capacity at Crown wasn't even necessary if current boundaries were shifted?

I want to know how many overpaid MCPS Central Office / BOE staff at Hungerford send their kids to College Gardens ES or live in Kings Farm? Someone on the thread was pushing hard to insist that those areas would 100% certain be part of Crown.

That’s funny because the word on the street is that the rest of King Farm will be shifted from RM to Gaithersburg, not exactly a “win”.

As long as that improves the school's overall diversity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these schools lack real diversity and need some busing.

Busing is a band-aid. I'd rather see MCPS invest in well thought-out programs at specific schools that are attractive and open to students in upcounty/midcounty.

You notice how the two HS magnet programs are in opposite corners of the county that's inconvenient for the majority of the county? There was another thread a few months back about Crown. The capacity at Crown wasn't even necessary if current boundaries were shifted?

I want to know how many overpaid MCPS Central Office / BOE staff at Hungerford send their kids to College Gardens ES or live in Kings Farm? Someone on the thread was pushing hard to insist that those areas would 100% certain be part of Crown.

That’s funny because the word on the street is that the rest of King Farm will be shifted from RM to Gaithersburg, not exactly a “win”.

I think at the end of the day, the BOE will do what they can to ensure that the FARMS rates at all the schools involved won't be excessive. Here are the rates for all schools based on last school year:
Churchill- 9.7%
Poolesville- 10.8%
Wootton- 11.9%
RM- 30.5%
Damascus- 30.6%
Northwest- 35%
Clarksburg- 36.4%
QO- 36.5%
SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is time to move Ritchie Park back into the Wootton Cluster. They never should have been moved out of it.

The old timers in my neighborhood still complain about this

Because it has dropped the home values by $50-90K. I would complain too! Not to mention Wootton is in walking distance to many of those neighborhoods and would save buses

We are almost to the 40 year mark on that change. How many people are still there who owned at that time?

I was in HS when the change was made. My parents still live there and there are a surprising number of original owners on the street. But they are in their 70s, 80s so I doubt they’re posting here. It was a huge issue because 1) we could walk to Wootton and neighboring communities who remained in boundary for Wootton walked right through the neighborhood to get there 2) RM was a school nobody wanted to attend and Wootton was high performing. But as I recall it wasn’t just Horizon Hill. It was Ritchie Park ES which included Potomac Woods and Montgomery Square. Those homes were not walkable. The vast majority of parents made a strong statement by sending their kids to private schools or moving in the first year. In each subsequent year, a few more students attended until attending became the norm. Between the IB program and new construction, RM steadily improved. Houses in the Ritchie Park cluster definitely lost value and continue to sell for less per sq footage then neighboring homes assigned to Wootton but I know many families who love RM and purposely chose to live there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just a reminder that the new proposed boundary study would have zero effect on elementary school boundaries. Only MS and HS are in scope.

They could just as easily change that scope to include elementaries as they did to include additional pyramids. That could come from an MCPS proposal to the BOE or from the BOE actually doing its job and directing the Superintendent to make it so.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a reminder that the new proposed boundary study would have zero effect on elementary school boundaries. Only MS and HS are in scope.

They could just as easily change that scope to include elementaries as they did to include additional pyramids. That could come from an MCPS proposal to the BOE or from the BOE actually doing its job and directing the Superintendent to make it so.

They could adjust ES boundaries later after HS and MS. Adjusting everything all together is too big a task to perform in 1.5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

There are no DEI quotas. This is a "battle" you have made up in your head.

Moco has a thing called The Racial Equity and Social Justice Act of 2019 and all government agencies have to eliminate the systemic racism they constantly practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a reminder that the new proposed boundary study would have zero effect on elementary school boundaries. Only MS and HS are in scope.

They could just as easily change that scope to include elementaries as they did to include additional pyramids. That could come from an MCPS proposal to the BOE or from the BOE actually doing its job and directing the Superintendent to make it so.

Yes, although in this case the scope wasn't changed to include additional pyramids. This is the first boundary study proposal for either Crown or Damascus, so there hasn't been any scope until now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just a reminder that the new proposed boundary study would have zero effect on elementary school boundaries. Only MS and HS are in scope.

They could just as easily change that scope to include elementaries as they did to include additional pyramids. That could come from an MCPS proposal to the BOE or from the BOE actually doing its job and directing the Superintendent to make it so.

They could adjust ES boundaries later after HS and MS. Adjusting everything all together is too big a task to perform in 1.5 years.

And it makes more sense to wait too, because some elementary schools will become part of new/different clusters.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these schools lack real diversity and need some busing.

Busing is a band-aid. I'd rather see MCPS invest in well thought-out programs at specific schools that are attractive and open to students in upcounty/midcounty.

You notice how the two HS magnet programs are in opposite corners of the county that's inconvenient for the majority of the county? There was another thread a few months back about Crown. The capacity at Crown wasn't even necessary if current boundaries were shifted?

I want to know how many overpaid MCPS Central Office / BOE staff at Hungerford send their kids to College Gardens ES or live in Kings Farm? Someone on the thread was pushing hard to insist that those areas would 100% certain be part of Crown.

That’s funny because the word on the street is that the rest of King Farm will be shifted from RM to Gaithersburg, not exactly a “win”.

I think at the end of the day, the BOE will do what they can to ensure that the FARMS rates at all the schools involved won't be excessive. Here are the rates for all schools based on last school year:
Churchill- 9.7%
Poolesville- 10.8%
Wootton- 11.9%
RM- 30.5%
Damascus- 30.6%
Northwest- 35%
Clarksburg- 36.4%
QO- 36.5%
SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

The BOE is really just voting yes or no on the superintendent's ultimate recommendation. A lot of this will really depend on who they hire as the superintendent for 2025-26.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these schools lack real diversity and need some busing.

Busing is a band-aid. I'd rather see MCPS invest in well thought-out programs at specific schools that are attractive and open to students in upcounty/midcounty.

You notice how the two HS magnet programs are in opposite corners of the county that's inconvenient for the majority of the county? There was another thread a few months back about Crown. The capacity at Crown wasn't even necessary if current boundaries were shifted?

I want to know how many overpaid MCPS Central Office / BOE staff at Hungerford send their kids to College Gardens ES or live in Kings Farm? Someone on the thread was pushing hard to insist that those areas would 100% certain be part of Crown.

That’s funny because the word on the street is that the rest of King Farm will be shifted from RM to Gaithersburg, not exactly a “win”.

I think at the end of the day, the BOE will do what they can to ensure that the FARMS rates at all the schools involved won't be excessive. Here are the rates for all schools based on last school year:
Churchill- 9.7%
Poolesville- 10.8%
Wootton- 11.9%
RM- 30.5%
Damascus- 30.6%
Northwest- 35%
Clarksburg- 36.4%
QO- 36.5%
SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

The BOE is really just voting yes or no on the superintendent's ultimate recommendation. A lot of this will really depend on who they hire as the superintendent for 2025-26.

Yes they follow the super's recommendation but make no mistake they have their opinions on the matter and they make it known.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Many of these schools lack real diversity and need some busing.

Busing is a band-aid. I'd rather see MCPS invest in well thought-out programs at specific schools that are attractive and open to students in upcounty/midcounty.

You notice how the two HS magnet programs are in opposite corners of the county that's inconvenient for the majority of the county? There was another thread a few months back about Crown. The capacity at Crown wasn't even necessary if current boundaries were shifted?

I want to know how many overpaid MCPS Central Office / BOE staff at Hungerford send their kids to College Gardens ES or live in Kings Farm? Someone on the thread was pushing hard to insist that those areas would 100% certain be part of Crown.

That’s funny because the word on the street is that the rest of King Farm will be shifted from RM to Gaithersburg, not exactly a “win”.

I think at the end of the day, the BOE will do what they can to ensure that the FARMS rates at all the schools involved won't be excessive. Here are the rates for all schools based on last school year:
Churchill- 9.7%
Poolesville- 10.8%
Wootton- 11.9%
RM- 30.5%
Damascus- 30.6%
Northwest- 35%
Clarksburg- 36.4%
QO- 36.5%
SVHS- 49.9%
Gaithersburg- 57.6%
Watkins Mill- 64.4%

The BOE is really just voting yes or no on the superintendent's ultimate recommendation. A lot of this will really depend on who they hire as the superintendent for 2025-26.

Yes they follow the super's recommendation but make no mistake they have their opinions on the matter and they make it known.

Of course they have opinions. But what matters is how they vote. Members do have the ability to put forward their own alternative options if they are dissatisfied with the superintendent's recommendation, but they almost never do. And even if they did, they would have to convince enough of their colleagues to go along with them in overruling the superintendent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

There are no DEI quotas. This is a "battle" you have made up in your head.

Moco has a thing called The Racial Equity and Social Justice Act of 2019 and all government agencies have to eliminate the systemic racism they constantly practice.

Because we all know that it is racist to have people live and attend free schools where they can afford it… especially when those schools receive additional funding and provide educations to the children of people who never contributed to the community. Wow - what a terrible system….